Background Due to the shortage of water resources, improving water management is a key issue in Egypt. Currently, around 50% of the drinking water fed into the country’s distribution networks is lost through leakages. This loss not only poses an environmental concern, but it also represents an annual economic loss estimated at EGP 1.3 billion (€177 million). In addition, the quality of water resources for potable use is poor, especially in rural areas where a lack of sanitation is adversely affecting human health, crop productivity and fisheries. Objectives The project’s overall objective was to contribute to the efficient use of water resources in Egypt and to improve protection from pollution. The project would help reduce negative impacts on the environment and human health. More specifically, the project aimed to: Strengthen the capacity of participating Egyptian utilities to manage water resources in a sustainable way and provide high-quality services through the transfer, demonstration, and implementation of advanced water-management methodologies. Foster co-operation, promote the exchange of experience and develop a common approach to water management between key water stakeholders, especially the utilities and national authorities responsible for water and sanitation. Support the Egyptian government in planning the extension of sanitation coverage to rural areas through the identification of technologies that are both environmentally sound and sensitive to the local context. Disseminate and contribute to the reproduction of the proposed methodology to Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. Results The project, implemented by the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater (HCWW) with one Italian water and wastewater utility (SPS) and Egyptian and Italian water consultants (SGI), focused on transferring technological know-how to improve water and sanitation services in Egypt and to produce replicable models for leakage control and rural sanitation in Egypt and the wider MENA region. Building up the capacity of HCWW and many of its subsidiaries to control leakage and improve sanitation in rural areas was achieved through a series of well-implemented activities entailing training workshops in Egypt and in Italy and pilot applications. The pilot projects were carried out in three selected areas – managed by Cairo, Alexandria and Gharbeia water utilities – to provide Egyptian engineers with on-the-job training on leakage control techniques. The pilot projects achieved different leakage reductions (35%, 17% and 2% of the water fed into the pilot areas of Cairo, Alexandria and Tanta respectively) and resulted in the training of more than 80 Egyptian water professionals in the management of water losses. A database of the utilities’ networks and operations was developed and supplied to HCWW that will periodically update it and monitor the performance of subsidiaries. Based on the experiences of the project, guidelines for efficient water supply management in Egyptian utilities were published. A feasibility study gauging the difficulty of introducing environmentally friendly technologies to Gawad Hosney, a village of 3,000 inhabitants located in Beheira Governorate, was carried out. The pilot village contains on-site treatment facilities (dry or flush toilets and dry boxes), which reduce the amount of wastewater to be collected, and a sewer network made of small sewage collection pipes, connecting each household building and conveying the wastewater to the final off-site treatment facility that consists of a constructed wetland. These facilities have a lower construction and maintenance cost than the centralised ones and offer environmental advantages such as lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. They are appropriate for small villages where the costs of conveying wastewater to a central plant are excessive and they provide adequate wastewater treatment. The feasibility study was published alongside a manual of best practice in rural sanitation; both documents were reproduced in a CD-Rom format (250 copies) and distributed among wastewater operators and stakeholders across Egypt and the wider MENA region. A training workshop was held in Ancona under the auspices of SPS-Multiservizi in July 2008; twenty water and sanitation engineers of the HCWW subsidiaries received training on water and wastewater utility management. In order to publicise the results of the project, a website was created (www.ibisslife.com.eg) and information materials (600 leaflets, 1 000 brochure booklets, 300 brochures, 75 posters, 500 CDs) were published. Two articles were published in the Egyptian press and one technical paper in a scientific newsletter. A conference at the end of the project attracted 135 attendees, who were informed of the results and the future developments in rural sanitation and leakage control after the project. The project's demonstration value and replication potential in Egypt and the wider MENA region is enormous, which is very clearly illustrated and substantiated in the after-LIFE communication plan. During the project, water experts began training other experts from the water utilities, and a fourth pilot project was implemented. The Cairo Water Company formed three leakage control teams (of 10 persons each) and three utilities purchased leakage detection equipment. The after-LIFE communication plan shows the commitment of the beneficiary to implement the project’s methodologies on a wide scale in Egypt (certain funds have been secured for this purpose) and to disseminate the project's outputs in the MENA region. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).